Matt Finnis is Cranlana’s CEO. In this reflection, Matt shares insights from the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship retreat, highlighting Worimi knowledge holder Professor Deen Sanders’ wisdom on shifting from rights to responsibilities.
Recently, our cohort of Vincent Fairfax Fellows gathered for an immersive retreat, engaging deeply with ethical leadership, responsibility, and systems thinking.
Early on in the retreat, we were privileged to spend the evening in conversation with Worimi man Professor Deen Sanders OAM, who challenged us to shift our perspective, from a framework of rights to one of responsibilities. This shift, which is foundational to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems, carries profound implications for ethical leadership today.
Ethics as responsibility, not just rights
In many Western frameworks, ethical discussions frequently revolve around competing rights—what we are entitled to, what we can claim, and what we deserve. Deen offered a contrasting perspective: that true wisdom and leadership lie in acknowledging and embracing our responsibilities. As leaders, the more knowledge we gain, the more responsibilities we inherit. This responsibility extends beyond ourselves and our organisations; it encompasses our communities, the land, and future generations.
At a time when ethical failures in leadership are often attributed to a lack of regulation or enforcement, Deen’s perspective serves as a reminder: ethics and responsibility cannot always be operationalised.
They must be lived.
They must be embodied.
And they must be understood in the context of the larger systems in which we exist.
Seeing the bigger system: nature, time and shared lore
Deen emphasised that all systems collide and intersect, and that no system is larger or more consequential than nature itself. When we sit in nature, we are reminded of our insignificance – not in a way that diminishes us, but in a way that places us in a broader context. The trees, the rivers, even the ants – all are part of an interconnected system where no one entity is more important than the other. Ethical leadership, then, requires us to position ourselves within this context and to lead with humility and awareness of the greater whole.
Time, too, plays a role in this broader system. The urgency of today’s problems can feel overwhelming, yet Aboriginal culture – rooted in the oldest continuous living tradition on Earth – offers a different perspective on time.
Geological time shifts our sense of urgency. When we recognise that the land has been stewarded for millennia by over 500 distinct nations and cultures, all sharing lore and maintaining peace without war, we realise the power of ethical co-operation and the value of long-term thinking over short-term gain.
The power of story in leadership and change
Deen also reminded us of the power of story as the most effective tool for transmitting knowledge.
Aboriginal lore, often mistaken as mere mythology, is in fact a highly sophisticated system of ethical teaching. Consider the story of Tiddalik which many of us would have read to our children at some point – the greedy frog whose thirst consumed all the water until the collective wisdom and action of the community restored balance. It is not simply a children’s tale but a foundational story about the dangers of greed, the principles of the commons, and the power of community to solve challenges together. These narratives serve as ethical compasses, guiding actions and responsibilities across generations.
For leaders, this underscores the responsibility we have in shaping the stories we tell and the legacy we leave. We are at the edge of significant systemic shifts. As Deen reminded us, all systems eventually collapse and transition into something new. This should not terrify us. Our role is not to resist change but to ensure that the tools—the stories, the knowledge, and the ethical frameworks—are in place to navigate what comes next.
Professor Deen Sanders OAM, on country for the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship retreat 2025
Our Call to Action: Embracing responsibility
But despite all of this wisdom, perhaps the most powerful message I took away from our time with Deen was this:
We are not passive observers of these shifting systems.
We have agency.
We have capacity.
And, most importantly, we have responsibility.
Aboriginal Australia is not a problem to be solved; it is a key to our future. As Deen pondered – imagine, for example, an immigration process that begins with an Indigenous welcome, where new arrivals are brought into the country not just administratively but spiritually and ethically. An inductive process which speaks to our shared responsibility to place and people, reinforcing that belonging is not simply about citizenship but about connection and contribution.
Our Vincent Fairfax Fellows are running businesses, schools, hospitals, utilities, defence agencies, government departments, sports and arts institutions. They come to their work with a strong sense of purpose and the will to deliver long term value to their organisations and communities.
I hope they departed our retreat comforted in the knowledge that ethical leadership is not about knowing all the answers. It is about seeing the patterns, understanding the relationships, and having the courage to lead responsibly within the bigger system.
As we move forward, let us not just take this knowledge with us.
Let us carry the responsibility that comes with it.
To find out more about the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship and how it can help you integrate powerful systems-thinking methodologies in your leadership, start here:
